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Fulbright Scholar and guest artist from Albania Arben Kumbaro will round out Loyola University New Orleans Department of Theatre Arts and Dance’s theatre season by directing Euripides’ 417 B.C. classic “Trojan Women,” adapted by Ellen McLaughlin.

McLaughlin’s contemporary adaptation, a white-hot version of a Greek tragedy in which the mournful women of a fallen Troy await their enslavement, examines the complexities of the female identity and the triumph of the human spirit. Abandoned in the shadow of their ruined city, the women struggle to comprehend the horrors and devastation brought upon them by gods and men.

Kumbaro uses this version because “McLaughlin preserves the antique text with a poetic simplicity through our contemporary language and psychology, while preserving the monumental landscape of the Greek tragedy.”

In this production, Kumbaro will take a contemporary approach by researching and incorporating the parallel lives of the Balkan people and New Orleanians. His directorial approach is one of a destroyed city of people who have abandoned their lives, homes and memories. With its crisp, direct dialogue, Kumbaro and his cast present a new stylized incarnation of a Greek tragedy with the hopes of unifying people through theatre.

Hailing from Tirana, Albania, Kumbaro has participated in a variety of international seminars, conferences and theatre festivals in Poland, the Czech Republic, Macedonia, Malta, Romania, Germany and Ireland, to name a few. He has completed post-graduate studies and received a degree in philosophy and history of theatre from the Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in Paris. He also has a degree from the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Tirana.

“Trojan Women” will run in Loyola’s Marquette Theatre, located in Marquette Hall, on Loyola’s main campus, on March 20, 21, 26, 27 and 28, at 7:30 p.m., and March 22, at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $12 for General Admission and $8 for all students, children, seniors and Loyola faculty and staff. Tickets can be purchased online at www.montage.loyno.edu or by calling 504-865-2074. Tickets can also be purchased at the door prior to any performance.

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